I’ve learned –
that you cannot make someone love you.
All you can do is
be someone who can be loved.
The rest is up to them.

I’ve learned –
that no matter how much I care,
some people just don’t care back.

OI’ve learned –
that it takes years to build up trust,
and only seconds to destroy it.

I’ve learned –
that it’s not what you have in your life
but who you have in your life that counts.

I’ve learned –
that you can get by on charm
for about fifteen minutes.
After that, you’d better know something.

I’ve learned –
that you shouldn’t compare
yourself to the best others can do
but to the best you can do.

I’ve learned –
that it’s not what happens to people
that’s important. It’s what they do about it.

I’ve learned –
that you can do something in an instant
that will give you heartache for life.

I’ve learned –
that no matter how thin you slice it,
there are always two sides.

I’ve learned –
that it’s taking me a long time
to become the person I want to be.

I’ve learned –
that it’s a lot easier
to react than it is to think.

I’ve learned –
that you should always leave
loved ones with loving words.
It may be the last time you see them.

I’ve learned –
that you can keep going
long after you think you can’t.

I’ve learned –
that we are responsible for what we do,
no matter how we feel.

I’ve learned –
that either you control your attitude
or it controls you.

I’ve learned –
that regardless of how hot and steamy
a relationship is at first,
the passion fades and there had better be
something else to take its place.

I’ve learned –
that heroes are the people
who do what has to be done
when it needs to be done,
regardless of the consequences.

I’ve learned –
that learning to forgive takes practice.

I’ve learned –
that money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I’ve learned –
that my best friend and I can do anything
or nothing and have the best time.

I’ve learned –
that sometimes when I’m angry
I have the right to be angry,
but that doesn’t give me
the right to be cruel.

I’ve learned –
that true friendship continues to grow,
even over the longest distance.
Same goes for true love.

I’ve learned –
that maturity has more to do with
what types of experiences you’ve had
and what you’ve learned from them
and less to do with how many
birthdays you’ve celebrated.

I’ve learned –
that it isn’t always enough
to be forgiven by others.
Sometimes you have to learn
to forgive yourself.

I’ve learned –
that no matter how bad
your heart is broken
the world doesn’t stop for your grief.

I’ve learned –
that our background and circumstances
may have influenced who we are,
but we are responsible for who we become.

I’ve learned –
that sometimes when my friends fight,
I’m forced to choose sides
even when I don’t want to.

I’ve learned –
that two people can look
at the exact same thing
and see something totally different.

I’ve learned –
that no matter how you try to protect
your children, they will eventually get hurt
and you will hurt in the process.

I’ve learned –
that your life can be changed
in a matter of hours
by people who don’t even know you.

I’ve learned –
that even when you think
you have no more to give,
when a friend cries out to you,
you will find the strength to help.

I’ve learned –
that writing, as well as talking,
can ease emotional pains.

I’ve learned –
that credentials on the wall
do not make you a decent human being.

I’ve learned –
that the people you care most about in life
are taken from you too soon.

I’ve learned –
that although the word “love”
can have many different meanings,
it loses value when overly used.

I’ve learned –
that it’s hard to determine
where to draw the line
between being nice and
not hurting people’s feelings
and standing up for what you believe.

Janice T Hill of Kansas City Mo.

1 Corinthians 4:6

I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.

Give it some thought.

Gary

A teacher is not there just to acquaint you with the tools of your trade; a teacher is a tool of your trade, no matter what that trade is. You never stop needing teachers. The great musicians never stop taking lessons, never stop trying to improve. The great concert pianist, Arthur Rubinstein, used to say that if he missed a day of practice, he noticed it in the quality of his performance. If he missed two days, the critics noticed. And if he missed three days, the audience noticed.

–       Unknown Author

One of the greatest teachers of all-time was Jesus Christ. He took known things from everyday life to teach spiritual truth. The Parable of the Sower is a case in point.

Luke 8:5-8

“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Do you have ears?

Give it some thought.

Gary

If 99.9 percent is good enough, then…

– two million documents will be lost by the IRS this year.
– 22,000 checks will be deducted from the wrong bank accounts in the next 60 minutes.
– 12 babies will be given to the wrong parents each day.
– 268,500 defective tires will be shipped this year.
– 14,208 defective personal computers will be shipped this year.
– 103,260 income tax returns will be processed incorrectly this year.
– 2,488,200 books will be shipped in the next 12 months with the wrong cover.
– two plane landings daily at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago will be unsafe.
– 18,322 pieces of mail will be mishandled in the next hour.
– 291 pacemaker operations will be performed incorrectly this year.
– 880,000 credit cards in circulation will turn out to have incorrect cardholder information on their magnetic strips.
– $9,690 will be spent today, tomorrow, next Thursday, and every day in the future on defective, often unsafe sporting equipment.
– 55 malfunction automatic teller machines will be installed in the next 12
– 20,000 incorrect drug prescriptions will be written in the next 12 months.
– 107 incorrect medical procedures will be performed by the end of the day today.

If you trust in the finished work of Christ, you can’t be trusting in baptism, church affiliation, some prayer or your good works. It has to be 100% or you fall short. Either He did it all or He was a failure.

John 19:28-30

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to His mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished,” and He bowed His head and gave up His Spirit.

Rest now in His perfect work to save a repentant sinner.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Do you know what the difference is between involvement and commitment? Just look at a plate of ham and eggs. The chickens were involved; the pig was committed!

How many times in Scripture we find individuals who were committed like: Noah, Abraham, Gideon, David and his mighty men.

I question my own commitment. Do you question yours?

Psalm 37:5

Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.

Proverbs 16:3

Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.

2 Timothy 4:7

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Quit just getting your foot wet and screaming. Dive in!

Give it some thought.

Gary

God is on the lookout today for a man who will be quiet enough to get a message from Him, brave enough to preach it, and honest enough to live it.

Vance Havner

So many who claimed the mantle of being a Christian leader have proven to be phony when the curtain came down. Thank God for those who have lived Christ, promoted Him, and died still honoring their calling. Many of these individuals are the bedrock of my Christian experience and I am thankful for them.

The Word of God is full of such examples.  We need more like the Apostle Paul.

1 Corinthians 7:7

I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Seven Ages of Man

6 weeks –all systems go
6 years –all systems “No!”
16 years–all systems know
26 years–all systems glow
36 years–all systems owe
56 years–all systems status quo
76 years–all systems slow

R.M. Cornelius in The Rotarian.

I never believed I’d awake some morning and be seventy years old, but it happened. Whatever happened to sliding down the knoll, dating girls, getting married, going to college, buying a house, paying off stuff, having different dogs and strange cats, enjoying vacations and starting wrinkles and gray hair. These are all in the wake as the boat of life races into old age. It happened to multitudes before me and now it’s my turn. I have to go now, for I have a doctor’s appointment.

Isaiah 46:4 

Even to your old age I am He, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save. 

Psalm 92:14 

They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green,

Psalm 71:9 

Do not cast Me off in the time of old age; forsake Me not when my strength is spent.

Time…  Think about it.

Gary

There are four ages of man:

1) when you believe in Santa Claus,

2) when you don’t believe in Santa Claus,

3) when you are Santa Claus,

4) when you look like Santa Claus.

That’s about the way it is. No amount of exercise, medication, medical procedures or vitamins will change the inevitable. It’s certainly more productive to emphasize the hereafter over the here-and-now.

Psalm 90:10

The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.

Ephesians 5:16

Making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

Give it some thought.

Gary